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    USB 3.0 to expresscard adapter?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by HK Envy, Aug 6, 2013.

  1. HK Envy

    HK Envy Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have an HP Envy 15 - 3205TX. It has a pretty decent AMD gpu...but I want a better one and laptop gpus are not up-gradable. The Vi-Dock could be a solution, but my computer doesn't have the expresscard slot it requires. It has:

    1 x USB 3.0 charging port
    2 x USB 3.0 port
    1 x Digital Media Slot
    1 x DisplayPort
    1 x HDMI port

    I looked up the throughput and voltage of USB 3.0 vs Expresscard and found that both are actually higher for USB 3.0. Yet I can't find any USB 3.0 to Expresscard adapters. I did find lots of Expresscard to USB 3.0 adapters though, which makes me doubt if the numbers I found were accurate. So my question is: Does such an animal exist, and if so, will it allow a Vi-Dock 4 Plus to perform to its full potential on my computer? If not, are there adapter options for any of the other slots on my computer? Or could I get an Expresscard slot directly installed?...I'd be willing to sacrifice my Optical Drive bay for it.
     
  2. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    your best bet is to get a mpcie slot egpu

    USb3 suffers from the basis problem of USB, it has a theoretical limit that is never achieved, it also has a buffer and adds latency to the process, aside loading more your cpu
     
  3. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    What Karamazovmm said, USB was never designed for uses requiring (more) direct access to the hardware in the computer or requiring low latency. PCI-E, expresscard and thunderbolt were designed with that in mind, I suppose you could add firewire to the mix too.
     
  4. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    you can add firewire to that list, its still industry standard for the multimedia pros that need consistency

    on a side note USB3.1 specs have been formalized, its 10gbs like TB1, but wont perform the same. question is when that standard will be applied to the chipsets
     
  5. HK Envy

    HK Envy Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the help guys. After reading up about EGPUs though I've decided it's just to complicated and messy. The reason I wanted to upgrade my gpu was because of the upcoming Oculus Rift. I'm a Skyrim fanatic but got bored with the game a while back. I planned to get an Oculus when they come on the market later this year and give Skyrim another go with VR. I knew I would need to upgrade though because running Skyrim in 3D adds a lot of load to the gpu. Now I think I'll wait until after I've tried the Oculus with minimum game settings and if I love it, I'll just build my own gaming pc. :)